Tomorrow I am off to SB 4.0 in Hong Kong. I will be leading a lunchtime workshop on "Commercialization of Genetic Parts".

Here is the abstract:

Synthetic Biology presently finds most of its participants in academia. Yet many applications, for example fuels, drugs, and materials, will be developed and used within a very different context than universities and other non-profit organizations. How can we spin up an economy based on composable parts that people can actually use to pay the rent in one way or another?

I expect the direction of the discussion will be guided mostly by who actually shows up. If we wind up talking about Biobrick Parts (TM), then we will need to hear more about whatever license the Foundation is trying to put together. My understanding is that the details of this license are still under wraps, so the discussion could well focus instead on how one can commercialize any widget these days. If that is the way it goes, I'll be happy to share my experiences in exploring the possibilities of garage biology. Here is the short version: Building a prototype is not so bad, and contract manufacturing is a royal pain in the ass to get going. So it's just like the rest of the economy...

Assuming we have decent web access, I will be blogging during the meeting. Stay tuned.